Keeping The Distance
by cyclopstears
Summary: When two romantically antisocial doctors come to realize their feelings for each other, they find that some things can't be avoided. Lovely cover art by rileyspimphat@tumblr!
1. Inky Hair

No one is different. These people who are called "individuals", are really all the same. Each and every one of them think alike, perform their jobs alike, and live alike. They're all just striving to be a somebody- to be noticed.

Other people were never truly important.

Other people were never truly important to_ you, _and you weren't important to them. You vowed to stay out of their way as long as they stayed far from yours, and that was how you lived ever since being released from prison for something your father burdened you with.

You also vowed never to follow in his cowardly footsteps and run away from your problems, but that's exactly what you've been doing for as long as you can remember.

When you met _them_, your life started to change. And even if you still distanced yourself from everyone, sometimes it was nice to have people that cared about you. Especially _her_. There was nothing special about her, you knew, but there was just one thing that really perplexed you.

She was so elusive and you hated it. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was a puzzle personified and you just could not understand her actions. She was a kind young woman, and that's what made her different from everyone else.

She made you realize that people _could_ be individuals; that they only do things similarly because they have to do them to live, and that that does not make their feelings and opinions all the same. She made you aggravated yet you were intrigued by her at the same time.

Maybe, you thought for a short while, that you liked- no, _loved_, the radiant Tomoe Tachibana.

You soon realized that you were probably not capable of loving someone, so that theory was definitely out of the question.

Could it possibly be the sheer fact that you two were polar opposites? Night and day, water and fire, the moon and the sun? Maybe because you did not mix, like oil and water. Maybe it was because you had never met someone more cheerful and happier than her. The possibilities clouded your head, but only the first seemed to interest you.

You were snapped out of these complex thoughts when Dr. Freebird asked you if you were alright during an operation briefing.

You nodded, not exactly paying attention to the gentle giant.

The next thing you knew you were sitting in your office, finished with yet another successful surgery. You figured that today was just an off day for you and you'd be back to your usual focused self bright and early tomorrow morning.

However, a knock on your door startled you and the long inky hair that was poking through the now open door made you start to panic. She was the last person you wanted to see right now.

You immediately granted her access to your own world by getting up and opening the door with wide eyes, barely thinking or hesitating at all.

"Doctor? Are you alright? Do you need anything? I'm about to go home, so I was wo-"

"It's alright, thank you Dr. Tachibana." You emptily said. You don't really know why you opened your door in the first place anymore.

"Oh, alright," she smiled, gently placing her hand on your shoulder which made you a bit uncomfortable. "You don't have to refer to me with such formalities, we have been acquainted for almost a year now."

You nodded idly while pretending to be focused on the notepad in front of you, but you were truly under her spell. Fazed by her scent, the feel of her soft, dainty hand over your tense and tall shoulder. She had to stand on her toes just to reach you, and it honestly looked a little silly.

You could practically see the disappointment in those big, purple eyes of hers as you watched her shoulder blades droop through the thick fabric of both her coat and kimono. "I was about to return to my home for the evening, and I thought that a proper farewell was in order." She paused for a moment. It was noticeable that she was thinking hard about something. "I have not seen you leave Resurgam in the longest time... This must mean that you have been working very hard lately, correct?"

Worry and concern ran through her voice as you realized that she didn't know that this _was_ your home.

The hospital provided housing for you and at the time of your release from prison, you didn't have the money to rent out an apartment and you were sure no one wanted an ex-convict running free in their home, so you gladly accepted.

"I live here," you simply replied, scribbling meaningless words onto the notepad and shrugging.

"Oh- Oh my, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know, so I just assumed that you were on duty, you have my apologies." She stuttered as her face turned a beautiful shade of rosy-red and her eyes shifted from yours to the linoleum floor tiles.

She was gorgeous yet had some kind of childish charm to her as a pout became visible on her face.

* * *

**i find myself making constant mistakes**

**so**

**constructive criticism is always welcome!**


	2. Seeing New Sides

Awkward.

Awkward and frustrating, you think, are all of your encounters with others.

As hard as it was, you had somehow managed to get rid of her, and before you knew it she was gone. You didn't know why, but a part of you didn't like it when she bid her goodbyes and left.

Even so, you got over that small encounter and decided to go to sleep and forget about her. The only thing that mattered to you, was in fact, _you, _so why should you be so entranced by her?

You tossed and turned restlessly in the cheap bed next to your window that creaked every time you moved.

Other people were never truly important to you.

Other people were never important to you and that wasn't going to change because of a girl who faces the world's hardships with a perpetual smile and an open mind.

There must have been other people like her, you were just not looking hard enough.

Of course, that was it; she was not different after all, you decided as you finally drifted off to dreamworld during that near sleepless night.

The next morning was not what you would personally call hectic, but it was most definitely awkward and frustrating.

You were making your daily rounds with not much enthusiasm- something you were never good at, due to your lack of good bedside manner. The patients never seemed to mind how you were so detached from all situations involving other people, so it was really never a problem.

It still made you much too uncomfortable though, and you were glad that you had finished when you did. You wanted to go and fill out as much paperwork as possible so you wouldn't have to do it all later.

There weren't a lot of things that sidetracked you from what you wanted to do when you wanted to do them, but you were truly shell-shocked by what you saw on the way back to your office.

It was certainly a frightening image to see Tomoe in such a fragile, broken state and you soon realized that everything you've ever assumed about her was wrong.

You could hear her voice from across the hallway and you knew something was wrong by how she was hunched over with her hands covering her face and her elbows pressed on her thighs.

And there she was again, still elusive; just without the peppiness.

You don't know if you've ever ran that fast in your life, but that was the last thing you cared about in the heat of the moment.

Your heart skipped a beat when she looked up at you and your stomach dropped as you saw tears falling from her eyes.

"Is something the matter, Dr. Tachibana?" you clenched your teeth and narrowed your eyes, feeling quite silly for even getting yourself involved.

No reply. It only strengthened your sense of silliness.

You repeated yourself, and her retort was a sniffle this time.

You were about to repeat yourself again when she cut you off with a shake of her head. Through incoherent murmurs, you had established that she was trying to tell you that she had done something to someone.

This made you a bit uneasy, and you sat down on the chair next to her.

You didn't know what to do.

You told her to calm down with a lot of assertiveness after hearing her cry for five more minutes, but judging by her small jump and gasp, you inferred that you had gone a bit too far.

"I killed her," she told you, her voice shaky and her whole body trembling.

It didn't take long for you to understand what she had meant. You honestly didn't know if you could have sympathy for her.

For one thing, you had never failed an operation, so you did not happen to know what it was like to 'kill' someone. For another, you just didn't know _how_ to have sympathy for anyone.

So you placed an awkward and frustrated hand on her shoulder and told her that it wasn't her fault.

Instead of savoring the moment, she collapsed onto your chest and began sobbing even louder.

You could feel the vibrations she was causing throughout your whole body, and you had to admit that maybe you did feel a little bad for her at that point.

The woman who, just twenty-four hours before, was laughing and talking to other doctors like no tomorrow, was now upset, falling apart, and blaming herself for another person's death.

You patted her on the head and just let her stay there and cry.

"It wasn't your fault, it will be alright. Just calm down."

She had seen a side of yourself that nobody else had.

_You_ had seen a side of yourself that nobody else had, and you did not know what was happening, nor did you like it.


End file.
